Death is a Sweeter Gift
by ThexBlairxWitch
Summary: Another girl shows up at Shibusen. At first Shinigami isn't going to let her in, but she shows him that she can keep up. The real question is not whether she can handle the schoolwork and missions, but can she handle the other students?
1. Prologue

**Hello, evuhreebuddy! Spelling fail. Ok, so, this is the prologue to my Soul Eater fanfic. It's a prologue because… well, I'll explain at the end. On to the reading! **

**Patty: *runs in* She doesn't ooooooown our show! **

**Ryuu: *sweatdrop* Um, no, I don't. Thank you… Patty…**

"And your name would be?"

The girl raised her eyes to Shinigami-sama's blank, comical mask. The dark eyes made her wonder exactly what was behind the innocent face; she couldn't even see her own bi-colored ones reflected in their depths. "Kagami. Kagami Fuyuko," she answered, her voice filled with fake boredom.

There was a pause, a terrifying, long, silent pause, and Kagami felt her pulse pounding through her head, the blood flowing with a whooshing sound. 'Please say I can attend,' she prayed. 'Please accept me. If you don't, I'm not sure where else I can go.'

After almost a minute without a reply, Kagami hesitantly spoke. "Shinigami-sama?"

The god blinked once, as if suddenly returned from an unexpected voyage. "Hmm?"

The girl hung her head internally. Was he even paying attention? "Have you considered?"

"Oh!" He clapped his large, square hands together. "Yes, well. We've already enrolled all the accepted students this year…"

"I'll work hard, I promise," Kagami wheedled desperately.

"That's not quite it." His face remained blank. "You see, every weapon needs a meister, and vice versa. Everyone was already matched up in the beginning of the year."  
"Ah," Kagami exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "That's not a problem."

"I wonder why not?"

"I'm both weapon and user," she explained, a smile creeping onto her face.

There was another pause, this one with an air of confusion. Kagami could almost see the little question marks floating around his head.

"Is there another way you can explain?" Shinigami-sama asked, his veiled eyes examining her.

Kagami laughed, surprising herself. "Of course." She closed her eyes and took a breath.

**Who should be who?**

_Well, I was kind of hoping to give you a chance to show off. It might be best to show the most diplomatic side right now._

**You talk like I'm not diplomatic. But I have no complaints.**

_Alright. Let's go, then._

It had barely been a second; there was a flash of light and Kagami exhaled once more. When her eyes opened, they were no longer bi-colored, but both were a clear, bright, stunning blue. Similarly, the girl standing before the god was no longer Kagami Fuyuko, but only Kira.

"You see now?" Kira asked the still emotionless figure before her. "And it works the other way too."

"Hmmm. This explains a few things. Your appearance, for example," he commented, nodding to himself. "Well, with this development, I no longer see any problem with enrolling you. As long as you're willing to spend as much time as is necessary working."

"Shinigami-sama, I'm willing to do anything I have to," Kira responded, holding her head high.

The eyes of the weapons in her hands narrowed slightly, ruby pupils glinting. **Let's no get cheesy, now.**

Kira frowned right back at them. _Oh, be glad for once. Or at least try and be partially optimistic._

"Allllll right," Shinigami-sama declared with a concluding tone, throwing his hands in the air, "then it's settled. You will attend Shibusen, starting tomorrow. Classes start at 8:00. Here is your schedule." He whipped a small card out of nowhere, causing Kira to blink. There was another flash of light, and she was Kagami once more. She took the card that was offered to her, looked it over quickly, and tucked it in a pocket.

"Thank you, Shinigami-sama. I can't thank you enough," she told him, bowing deeply. When she looked up, he was no longer looking at her, but more thoughtfully gazing at one of the clouds hovering in the strange little room.

"Rather, Fuyuko-san, I thank you. This academy can use as many students as we can take. And your soul suggests that you will add to the intriguing events this year may bring."

Kagami couldn't think of any way to reply to that, so she bowed a second time, said, "Thank you again; I'll be taking my leave now," and left him, pondering the confusing comment.

She was abruptly pulled back inside.

Shinigami-sama turned to face her. "I wonder, Fuyuko-san, do you have a place to stay?"

Kagami slowly turned red. She had come straight to the academy the moment she had set foot in the city, and hadn't even given a thought to lodging.

"Y-yea, of course," she stuttered.

He stared at her for another second, plainly seeing straight through the fib. He straightened, and addressed her. "As the head o this school, I will offer my hospitality." Kagami blinked. "You may stay… at my son's house."

Kagami blinked three more times, then swayed and almost fell over backwards. The Death God… had a son… who lived in his own house… which she was now sharing with him.

"He's away right now on an assignment; he should be back later tonight. So for now you get the house to yourself. It's very spacious. You may take your pick of the unoccupied rooms."

She dazedly bobbed her head. "Arigatou, Shinigami-sama. Thank you; you're very genereous."

He gave her a quick set of directions, which she probably should have forgotten had she not written it down. She left a final time, bowing repeatedly, then hurried through the streets.

Kagami found herself shading her eyes from the flame of the setting sun in front of a very interesting house. It fairly dwarfed the nearest buildings, each a good 800 yards away, but that wasn't the strange part. Blocking off half the house with one hand confirmed her suspicion: it was perfectly symmetrical. Mouth curling into a questioning frown, she pushed the gate open and walked in, keeping her hand up in front of the sun.

When she reached the front door, she noticed a small smudge on the otherwise shining doorknob.

**Ugh. What is this?**

_It's something we have to deal with. Just wipe it off and don't think about it._

With a scowl, Kagami rubbed her thumb over the smudge until it was gone. Then she turned the knob and stepped inside.

The interior was exactly the same as the outside: symmetrical. Identical paintings in identical positions lined walls; where there a table on one side, there was a matching one on the other. The floor was tiled with perfect squares. Kagami wandered around, staring in disbelief. It was ridiculous. She came to a hallway lined with eight doors, four on each side.

The first one she opened was fairly minimalist in design, color scheme, and furnishings; it was also arranged in the same way as the rest of the house. But when she opened the next door, she rubbed her eyes vigorously to make sure she wasn't imagining anything. It was a huge class of colors and styles: pastels and neon colors, hippie and girly, darkly gothic and bright outdoorsy. And there was stuff thrown everywhere. Clothes covering the floor and bed, the desk, posters half-attached to the walls… it was hard to believe such a room actually belonged in the perfect (if in a strange way), immaculate house. Quickly she shut the door and moved on before she could attack the room and whip it into order.

The next two doors Kagami tried were similar to the first one. After starting on the other side of the hall, she found a second out-of-place room, opposite the crazy one. This one, however, was much neater. It was very trendy and fashionable, the walls and ceiling covered with posters. A huge stereo system took up half the floor space.

Kagami backed out and closed the door.

She found nothing else in the other rooms. After looking at all the empty ones again, she walked into the first one on the left. Sitting down on the bed and informally claiming her new room, her eyes wandered over everything. Catching sight of something, she frowned and stood, hands on hips.

**This much I can fix, right?**

_Well, this is our new room. I don't see the harm._

**Come on and help me, then. I know this bothers you just as much**

_Can't deny that. Fine._

The flash of light came, then Akari and Kira stepped up the wall and adjusted the lamp sconces stationed just above their bed. Akari grumbled to herself. "Is this straight?" she asked the other girl.

Kira stood back and examined the wall. "Much better," she pronounced with a nod. A flash of light once more, and Kagami flopped on the bed, smiling and closing her eyes.

_I'm so tired._

**Shhh. I'm sleeping.**

Around 1 that morning, Kagami woke up to a huge racket. She could hear someone running up and down the hallway, and a fair amount of crashing and banging. Scowling, she rolled out of bed and fell heavily on the floor. "What does this kid live with, elephants?" she muttered.

Standing up and stumbling over to the mirror, she straightened her clothes a little.

_Gotta head into town soon. We need more clothes._

**You're telling me.**

Kagami straightened the mirror, then opened the door and peered cautiously out.

There was a girl in a cowgirl hat and interestingly puffy shorts galloping back and forth, laughing maniacally. Kagami tried to sidle down the hall, but the other girl careened into her, knocking her down and landing on top of her.

"Oooo," the strange girl giggled, "Onee-san! Look at what I found."

"Patty, stop running into things!" a boy called. "I'll have to fix the whole house up again."

"Okay," Patty snickered. She hauled Kagami up. "Kid-kun, come here and look!"

He rounded the corner. A boy with amber eyes and black hair (did he dye those white stripes on purpose? They were going to drive her crazy), wearing an immaculate – and symmetrical – suit. He was holding a silver handgun.

**His partner, no doubt.**

When he saw Kagami, he took a step back, staring. After a second, he narrowed his eyes and held out his empty hand. "Patty!"

Patty giggled. With a flash of pink light, she became a second silver handgun.

With no warning, he started firing at Kagami. A shot clipped her right arm, and she screamed, "What the hell?" He didn't stop shooting, so she overturned a table and ducked behind it.

"You should not be defiling this earth!" she heard. "I will exterminate you, demon!"

**Demon? **

_I don't know about me, but you might be._

**Don't even start.**

Kagami threw a handful of blades over the table. There were four sharp thunks, and everything was quiet. Carefully, she made sure it was safe, then stormed over to where the boy was pinned to the wall.

"Please explain," she growled, turning her index finger into an arrow shaped blade and holding it to his throat, "why my arm is bleeding."

"Every inch of you is asymmetrical. You are a disgrace. Death would be a kind punishment," he replied.

She looked at him in disbelief. "Oh, you're kidding me."

He stared back at her with such hatred that she wondered if she had somehow offended him in a past life.

Pink light filled the air. A new girl stood there, with long hair and jeans. "Hey, hey," she said anxiously. "Let's calm down, huh?" Then she grabbed Kagami's arm and dragged her a few yards off.

"Liz!" the kid yelled. "Stay away from that thing!" Liz rolled her eyes.

"Look," she explained to Kagami hastily, "Kid-kun is sort of… OCD about things being symmetrical."

"That explains a few things," Kagami muttered darkly.

Liz continued, "So you're basically his worst nightmare."

"Yeah, I figure. But wait, if he's so symmetry obsessed, then what did he do to his – hmph!"

Liz cut her off. "Don't mention the hair. Whenever someone reminds him about it, he goes on a crying jag, feeling like he's not worthy of living." She removed her hand.

Kagami stared. "Please, please tell me you're joking." Liz shook her head.

Stalking back to Kid, Kagami frowned as he glared. "Look," she told him, "your father graciously invited me here to stay. And furthermore, I'm going to be attending school with you. So I refuse to be a problem."

**You tell him.**

_Is that me talking, or you?_

"Now, I'm going to let you down, _if_ you promise not to attack me."

He said nothing, just continued scowling. Kagami sighed, shook her head, and pulled out the two blades pinning his shoulders. Liz hovered behind, watching uneasily. Shooting Kid a warning glance, Kagami yanked the blade holding his weaponless arm.

In that moment, he made the move she expected, whipping his free arm around, and aiming for her throat. She casually caught his wrist, and wrenched it sideways, gritting her teeth angrily.

"You didn't let me finish," she told him in fake cheer. "See, I can _fix _this."

"Impossible," he scoffed. "You're too asymmetrical to be fixed at all."

"Oh, yeah? Well, watch this."

The smirk on Kagami's face vanished with the swirl of purple and mint green light.

"If you want symmetry – " Kira began.

"I'll give you symmetry!" Akari finished with a sneer.

In a moment of creative, ticked-off defiance, the girls linked arms.

Kid fell to the ground in shock, pulling his other arm free. Even Liz was staring open-mouthed, and Patty clapped, giggling.

Akari stalked over to Kid, Kira tugging backwards on her arm the whole way. She knelt on one knee in front of his stunned face, and growled, "Look, you twit, am I gonna have to do this every time I run into you? 'Cause it gets tiring." She stood back.

He gaped for another second, and the moved too quickly for either girl to react, grabbing a hand of each.

"Please," he whimpered, groveling, "accept my pardons. Forgive me. I didn't know such filthy imperfection could turn into such absolutely perfect, goddess-like symmetry." He pressed their hands to his forehead.

Liz's jaw crashed to the floor, and Patty laughed even more madly, dancing in circles.

"This is… awkward," was all Kira could say, twitching.

"Goddess-like? He was calling us earth-defiling asymmetrical demons a minute ago," Akari muttered boredly, tugging at her hand.

"Please," he continued, staring up with a pathetically tearful smile, "stay in my home as long as you like."

"Okay," Akari snapped, "first things first, leggo the hand."

He did, reluctantly.

"Second," Kira continued, "don't get too used to this. We're not giving you any special treatment. The other form is much more comfortable." When his eyes widened with fear, she snorted, "It'll be good for you."

He didn't say anything. She turned to Liz.

"Is he gonna survive?"

"Without killing you or without going crazy?" Liz nodded. "Probably. It might be a while, though."

"Okay."

Liz frowned, her eyebrows knitting together. "So, if you don't mind me asking, are you a weapon or a technician or… what?"

Akari smirked, and Kira smiled. "Both."

"Wha-"

"Let us show you. Hold out your hands."

Liz complied.

**This'll be fun.**

_I can't remember the last time we did this._

Pools of purple and green light blinded everyone in the vicinity. When it vanished, Liz was holding two tri-bladed hooded katars.

They were truly beautiful weapons, looking vaguely like ancient ceremonial pieces with their ornate designs. Liz examined the one in her right hand. The blades were arrow shaped, deadly, with the one in the very middle being noticeably larger that the ones on the sides. They were of polished steel. Her hand fit beneath a metal shield plate, holding the device by two bars made of beech wood. Liz flipped her hand over to look at the plate. There was an eye on the top half in a sort of Egyptian style, outlined in gold with an aquamarine pupil. Below that was a sort of four leaved clover inlaid in gold, with aquamarines studding each of the four leaves and a diamond in the center. The plate itself was made of platinum. There were two more beech wood bars extending from the sides and ending halfway down her forearm to keep the weapon secure, as well as long lengths of ivory ribbon wrapped around her wrist, connecting to these bars.

When she turned toe examine the other, she saw that it was the same in design, but with different materials. It traded polished steel for a darker brushed iron, platinum for onyx, beech wood for ebony, gold for silver, aquamarine for ruby, diamond for obsidian, and ribbons for thin but sturdy looking chains.

"Wow," Liz said. "Impressive."

Kid poked his head over her shoulder. "So unbelievably symmetrical. You really must be a goddess."

"Yeah, only not," said Akari's voice as the ruby eye narrowed.

"So what're these chains and ribbons for?" Liz asked, elbowing Kid away.

"Well," Kira began, "you can use them for ranged attacks. Not the ribbons themselves, but we have a technique worked out. Like, say, you throw one of us, and then you can either whip the weapon around or reel it back."

"Ah. That's useful."

The light filled the room again, and the girls stood there. Patty clapped.

"Do you have a different form for your soul resonance?" Kid asked, bright-eyed.

Akari laughed. "Yeah, sure, but you'll be disappointed."

He held out his hands eagerly. The girls obliged him, smiling.

He stared for a minute, then sighed. "Well, I suppose they're not symmetrical in and of themselves. But they're still symmetrical when you use them."

Kid flexed his hands; the soft leather covering his palms moved easily. The gloves went all the way up to his elbows.

"Um… you're not really supposed to wear sleeves with these…" Kira's voice told him, the aquamarine eye glinting at him from the back of his right hand. He noted that the eyes were larger, and had developed little curved barbs at the corners.

"Why can't there be six blades?" he asked in mild distaste.

"Because the blades cover your fingers," Akari replied. "They're poisoned; you fire them by twitching your fingers up against them. They can fire pretty fast, too."

"Besides, the number is perfectly symmetrical if you divide the middle one in half," Kira added.

"Ah!" Kid's eyes brightened. He whipped around, throwing an arm up and brushing his ring finger against the blade above it. The razor-edged arrow fired in response, flying straight and true and coming to a stop in the wall right next to Liz's face, and almost immediately another knife replaced it. He grinned. Running his hand gently over the large blade running along the outside of his forearm, careful of the corner extending past his elbow, he asked "What's this for?"

"That's to block physical attacks. See all those nicks along the edge? It's also poisoned, so it can be used for offense, as well," Kira answered. "Those three gold bands wrapping around your arm keep it secure."

"Huh." He clenched his hand into a fist, watching the way the leather, soft in that area, folded easily with his palm.

Liz suddenly yawned widely. "This is wonderful and all, but can we go to sleep? It's late."

"Ah!" His head snapped up. "Yeah. You're right."

Akari and Kira transformed back to their original forms, yawning and stretching as well. "My God, I'm tired," Akari said.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Patty told them happily, skipping into her room and slamming the door, making everyone wince.

"Yeah. G'night, everybody," Liz agreed, heading to her room. She turned back quickly. "Good to meet you, er… Akari, Kira. Kagami?"

"Yeah, you too," the girls replied, raising their hands in acknowledgment.

They were left standing with Kid in the hallway.

Akari looked down at her arms again, and realized her bleeding was stopping. "Good," she muttered.

"Oh!" Kid exclaimed. "Are you okay? Please, I apologize for earlier. I didn't… know…" He looked at her in confusion, then shock. "Why are both your arms injured?!"

"Ahm…" Akari pushed a hand through her hair. "See, I guess… okay. Well. The best way to explain it is… jeez. This is complicated." He waited patiently. "So, I'm Kagami, right? Though I am Akari, I'm still Kagami. And so is Kira. We're both technically of the same person. I think our soul is kind of messed up; we're not sure whether it was originally two souls pushed into one body or one warped soul or what. But because of the strange condition of our soul, our original, ordinary form looks like two halves of separate people pushed together."

"Yes," he agreed, shuddering, "I noticed that."

"Anyway, that's kind of what it is. When we're like this," she gestured to herself and Kira, "what we do is, we split off from each other. When we do that, there are basically two half people. To make whole bodies, we duplicate the halves we have. That's the reason we're perfectly symmetrical like this."

"What an ingenious way to turn such a hideous existence into beautiful symmetry!" Kid cried, overjoyed.

**Hideous? Really?**

_Ouch. _

"But that also means, if I get injured in my original form, then split apart, the half that got injured creates another injury. It's a tough decision sometimes. Have to think about whether it would be easier to just stay as one person, trying to push through one wound, or become two people, one of them doubly injured and the other one perfectly healthy, based on the circumstances."

"Ah," Kid said. "I understand what you're talking about. Again, I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine," Akari sighed, waving him off. "It wasn't too bad. I'll survive. In the meantime, it's probably a good idea to go to sleep. Liz had a good point. We have school tomorrow."

"Yes. Yes," Kid nodded. "All right then. Good night, Akari-san, Kira-san." He bowed his head slightly, and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him.

"Goodnight, Kid."

Akari and Kira walked back into their room. They changed back to Kagami, who then laid down on the bed and closed her eyes in exhaustion.

_Interesting day._

**Just you wait until tomorrow.**

**Jeesh. This was long, for a prologue. I dunno how long the chapters will be. But I'm going to base them off the anime episodes (e.g. a chapter is comprised of the occurrences in a specific episode). I might have a few grammatical errors, because it was kinda tricky to switch from being one person to two people… God, it's still confusing me, actually. Oh well.**

**Soul: Question.**

**Ryuu: Ne, ne, Soul-kun?**

**Soul: The heck are katars? Did you even do research to confirm their existence?**

**Ryuu: Course I did, silly. If you want info, look at Wikipedia. I based the ones in the story off the ones Voldo uses in that one game my brother has, Soul Caliber II. Yes, Voldo is a creeper. But I like the weapons he uses. So, for now, check that stuff out; I'll be trying to scan and color in some pictures of the weapons (or maybe I'll be lazy and ask my friend to…), as well as a possible picture of Kagami. And yes, the soul resonance weapon forms are entirely original. **

**Soul: Okay, shut up. Long author's notes are not cool.**

**Ryuu: *pulls his headband over his eyes* Who's cool now? **


	2. Chapter 1

**This one shall be short. It starts as episode four (and is titled as such) because the prologue occurred right after the end of episode three. This won't be very interesting, or very long, mostly because for now Kagami is hanging with Kid and the sisters, so nothing really happens. I feel like it's kind of a let-down after the prologue, so I'll see if I can double update today to make up for it.**

**Soul: This whacked-out chick doesn't own me.**

**Ryuu: Soul! Baka! It's the anime I don't own! Or the manga, for that matter. **

EP 4

Kagami woke up to something sitting on her stomach.

She opened her eyes and found Patty's face pushed incredibly close to hers.

"Hey, hehehe, she's awake!" Patty laughed, bouncing up and down.

"Wah! Patty – please – get – off!" Kagami got out, trying not to bite her tongue off as she unavoidably went up and down as well.

"Ok!" Patty agreed, and hopped off, skipping out of the room.

**Urgh. Not the most pleasant awakening.**

_What time is it? _

Kagami reached out a blind hand for the clock. Finding it and turning it to face her, she sucked in air too fast and hiccupped.

"Crap!" she squeaked. "I'm late! And on my first day, too."

Throwing back the covers, she scrambled out of bed, and hurried out in the hallway. She found the other three in the kitchen.

"What are you still doing here? Don't we have to go to school?" she screeched, her messy hair starting to fall over her face. She brushed through it frantically with one hand.

Liz gave her a strange look. "We don't attend Shibusen, even though you do."

"But – wait, what?"

Liz shrugged. "Kid-kun is just Shinigami-sama's son."

Kid broke in. "Don't walk around in my house like that?"

"Like what? Like I just rolled out of bed?"

"NO! You're ruining the symmetry again!"

"Oh." Kagami sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine." She transformed in the ensuing purple and pale green light. Then Akari and Kira sat down at the table. Liz offered the girls food, but they turned it down, still too panicky to do much of anything.

"Anyway, my father contacted me this morning and told me to come to the school. He said to bring you, as well. I was considering enrolling in the school, and he said something about this being a good experience."

"When do we have to be there?" Kira asked, finally relaxed enough to yawn.

"Not for a little bit," said Liz, as she sat down next to Akari.

"A little bit being long enough for us to run into town?" Akari asked.

"Um. Depends how long you'll be there. A little bit is a few hours or so."

Kira and Akari looked at each other. "Yeah, that'll be plenty of time."

"You want me to come with you guys?" Liz offered, chewing a bite. "I know places to get bargains."

"Why not?" Akari said.

"Would you mind?" Kira added.

"Nah," Liz grinned, "not at all. I love shopping."

"Okay, then we can head out after breakfast." The girls stood up. "We'll head back to our room. Call us when you're ready." They walked away.

Liz knocked on the door seven minutes later. "Come in," Kagami called through the hair clip in her mouth. The tall girl walked in.

"I'll just be a second. I need to get this clip in… there." Her bangs, blonde and black, fell on either side of her face. "That should do it."

"You know what you should try doing someday?" Liz told her as they walked out of the house.

"What?"

"Braiding your hair. It would look cool with your colors."

"Yeah," Kagami mused, "I might try that."

The girls walked off, heading for town.

Two hours later, they were nearing the end of the long list Liz had stored of all the stores to get good deals.

"What time is it?" Kira asked, holding a white tank top with aqua swirls and spirals up to her body.

"Um, I'm not sure," Liz replied. "That looks good for you, by the way."

"We should probably find out," Akari noted, perusing the jewelry for a black bracelet. "We don't want to be late."

"Yeah; are you guys done here?"

The twins nodded.

"Then let's go ask at the register while we pay."

The three girls headed for the cashier with their selections. As the employee began ringing things up, Liz eyed up some bottles of nail polish and asked him, "What time is it?"

"Ten fifteen," the man replied. The girls stared at each other in shock. "Thank you for your purchase."

Kira grabbed Akari's hand, and flew out of the shop, Liz hot on their heels.

"We're late! Crap! We're going to get in trouble!"

They ran as fast as they could back to the house, and burst in. No one answered their calls of, "Kid! Patty!"

"They must have gone off ahead because we were taking forever. We must be really late." Akari shook her head.

"Come on," Liz said, "we have to get to the school!"

They burst back out the door, making sure it was locked, and dashed full speed to the school.

Akari and Kira kept an eye on their surroundings as they made their way through the streets.

**It's reasonable to assume that this is the fastest route, right?**

_Uh-huh. We should remember this. In case we ever wake up late or something._

**Us? Late for school? You don't say. **

Finally, Shibusen's spires and towers came into sight. The girls pushed harder, reaching the stairs and stumbling up them. Once inside, Akari and Kira followed Liz to Shinigami-sama's office, memorizing that path as well.

They burst into the room, huffing and panting, and came to a stop in front of Shinigami-sama's dais. Liz bent over, resting her hands on her knees, and Akari and Kira supported each other.

"Gomen nasai… Shinigami-sama. I'm… so sorry we're late," Kira managed.

"Fine, fine! It's fine!" he sang. "Nothing's happened yet anyway."

Kid rose from a large chair, and turned to survey the late arrivals. Frowning, he stomped down towards Kira, who looked at him warily. When he was standing in front of her, he reached under the right strap of her tank top and pulled her bra strap off her shoulder. Then he stepped back, smiling. "Much better! Symmetrical!"

Kira flushed, started, then smacked him over the top of the head, screeching, "Tell me to fix it myself next time!" She pulled both the straps back onto her shoulders. "You know what, just for that…"

She and Akari merged. Kagami smirked at Kid, whose eyes went wide in fear and disgust.

"NOOOOOOO!!!" he howled, throwing himself on the floor. "IT'S HIDEOUS! I CAN'T LOOK! AWFUL! NASTY! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE ON THIS PLANET!"

"Was that necessary?" Liz asked, twitching.

"Of course," Kagami said, scowling at the boy beating the floor with his fist. "You may be used to anything he does. I'm not. And I refuse to accept it."

"Now, children, no fighting," Shinigami-sama chided.

**If he wasn't our sensei, I would've smacked him.**

_Calm. He's right. Calm._

**Says the one who just used violence to prove a point**

Kid sullenly picked himself up, and returned to his chair. Liz followed him, taking her place next to her sister. Kira and Akari grudgingly followed, standing on his other side. They all stared at Shinigami-sama's tall mirror, watching the events occurring inside.

"Who are those people?" Akari asked off-handedly.

"They are your classmates. One star meisters, still, but good ones, and I am very proud of them. Maka Albarn, a death scythe technician, and her partner Soul Eater, and Black Star the assassin with his partner Tsubaki. I believe you will be joining them soon."

They watched for a little while longer, then the kid named Black Star started acting serious.

"It begins," Shinigami-sama said.

Akari and Kira didn't pay as much attention as they could have; the girls were never much interested in anything except the outcome of another's fight. When they looked back up, Maka and her scythe were tied together with the blue zombie man by the chains of Black Star's weapon, Tsubaki. Black Star was laughing madly, like he had just secured a great victory. When Maka protested, he simply replied, "You were in my way!"

**Superiority complex much…**

_No kidding. _

"Huh. I guess that's the end of this for now," Shinigami-sama mused. The image in the mirror flicked off.

"Next we're after the one who turned Sid-sensei into a zombie in the first place," Kid guessed, completely serious. His father turned.

"Yes, that's right!"

"Who is he?" Kid asked, crossing his legs and lacing his fingers together. "He wouldn't be an average person, would he?"

"Hmm… you know the current top weapon, Death Scythe, right?"

"Yes," Kid affirmed.

"Do you know who forged him?"

"Yeah, Maka's mother. Why?"

"To be truthful, Maka's mom is Death Scythe's second partner."

Kid sat up, alert. "Which means there's a first."

"And let me guess: he's the one we have to find," Kira put in.

"His name is Doctor Franken Stein," Shinigami-sama told them. "Stein was Death Scythe's first partner. He's Shibusen's strongest living meister."

**Um. Yesh. Totally, completely boring chapter. It might even be better to ignore it. You know what I'm waiting for? An episode where Kid and the sisters aren't involved. Because then I can write whatever the heck I want. And that'll be incredibly fun. Not to mention interesting to read. **


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter five, chapter five. Also slightly boring, but still a little less so than the last. I'll keep trying to update. It only ever gets interesting when the four (five?) characters I focus on are actually involved or not involved at all. Enjoy. And I DON'T OWN SOUL EATER. Just my sarcasm.**

"Well? Akari, separating in the green and purple light, asked in boredom. "Are we gonna go deal with this guy or what?"

"Didn't you tell the others to go get his soul?" Liz put in.

"You know, Liz," Patty said cheerfully, "I bet if you were there, it'd be over in a second!"

"I'm just an average weapon. You overestimate your older sister too much; I'd be dead before I hit the ground," Liz replied mournfully.

"We all might be dead before anyone could blink," Akari added sadistically. Liz shuddered.

"Don't you think this 'maintenance' is a bit harsh?" Kid asked his father. "There's no question about it. They're going to die."

There was silence when Shinigami-sama didn't respond.

"Well, _that's_ certainly depressing," Kagami said, flashing back to her ordinary form and stretching a little. Kid twitched.

"Don't do that!" he told her. "Or do you really wanna die too?"

"Death would be better than dealing with you," she replied, making a taunting kissy face. "Misnamed child."

He flamed, choosing not to react in the situation. Kagami smirked.

**Got him.**

_Got him good._

She turned to Shinigami-sama. "Ne, while your son wallows, can we watch more of what happens next?"

"Of course, of course!" he responded gladly. The mirror flicked back on.

Kagami now watched with interest as the four kids waited outside a patchy looking house. There was an ominous rolling sound. No one moved. Then a man on a rolling chair came flying towards the door.

He would have made it out and flew off the steps except for the groove in the floor where the door had been. A wheel caught on the groove, and he flipped onto his back, quickly picking himself up and dusting himself off. He swore.

"… Tell me we aren't going to have to have him for a teacher or something," Kagami scowled.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, Kagami-san, but he is a very high-level technician, and you all could learn a lot from him," Shinigami-sama said, not sounding sorry in the least.

She sighed, and shook her head.

The man in the mirror stood up, and, pulling his chair back through the door, said, "Okay, let me try that again."

The teenagers stared with incomprehensive faces.

The rolling sound came again, and the tension returned as everybody waited for him to reappear.

He came into sight, and flipped onto his back once more.

"What is up with that man?" Liz muttered.

"He fell over! He fell over!" Patty laughed.

The doctor lay on his back, staring in a bemused, creepy way at his guests. "So, can I help you?"

Maka and Soul confirmed that he was the one who had turned Sid into a zombie.

He stood back up, righting his chair and sitting in it. "So that's what it is. You guys must be from Shibusen."

"Do you have some kind of grudge against us?" Maka demanded angrily.

"No, not really," he responded, blowing out smoke from his cigarette. "My motives are simple: observation and research. Nothing more than that." Folding his arms on the back of his chair, he rested his head. "Everything in this world is a specimen to me. Even myself."

"Creeeeeper," Kagami sang. "Why can't we just get some nice, normal witch to teach us?"

Maka whispered to Soul uneasily, as Stein stared at them objectively.

"You guys' wavelength's are pretty unstable," he commented offhandedly. "A cynical, sarcastic soul paired with a truly hard worker… they're probably not resonating at all."

"You can see the souls of living people?" Soul asked, his voice hinting at incredulity.

"And able to see our personalities as well… a top class master," Maka added.

**What do you think he'd see if he looked at us?**

_I expect he'd be very confused, even for a 'top class master.'_

"Your soul is quivering," Stein told Maka. "How cute."

She started, attempting to cover her soul with her hands and saying angrily, "Shut up! Stop looking!"

"Kind of pedophile-ish, isn't it?" Kagami murmured to Liz, who flinched.

"Yeah!" a loud voice yelled in the glass. "Don't you dare forget about me!"

Everyone looked up. Black Star was on top of the building. He started blabbering about how wonderful he was compared to everyone else and how it was always his time to shine.

"How'd he get up there?" was all Liz and Kagami had to say.

He jumped down, still ranting about how his soul was most important and best.

Stein laughed. "You're an impressive one! Such an obstinate, violent soul."

**Oop. That's bound to piss him off.**

_Or he may be just stupid enough to take it as a compliment._

"There aren't many partners around that suit you, huh?" the professor commented, cranking the bolt in his head.

Black Star dashed and leaped, kicking at the man. Stein moved fast, and blocked the attacks, then sent the boy flying with an elbow to the jaw.

"Ouch," Kagami said appreciatively.

Stein turned to Tsubaki. "I get it. You must be his partner. A cooperative personality. Very willing to accept others. So you can harmonize with him, then."

"Who the hell are you?" Soul asked indignantly.

Ignoring him, Stein continued. "I think I've gathered enough data. Let's start the experiment, shall we?" He smiled almost reassuringly.

Maka had Soul transform into a scythe, and charged at the professor, swinging her deadly weapon.

"Scythe master Maka, hm?" Stein pondered, dodging her attacks and purposefully rolling backwards into Black Star. Maka was knocked to the ground. "What was it… where have I heard that… ah!"

Maka paused when he pointed at her. "You're Spirit-sempai's daughter, right?"

"The Death Scythe…" Kagami muttered. "That's right."

"But how do you know?" Maka asked.

"Ah, I can just imagine sempai's sleeping face," Stein sighed, reminiscing.

"Um. What?" Liz asked disbelievingly.

"I see," Stein continued, oblivious, "you're his beloved daughter. Also the daughter of the woman that stole my precious test subject."

"Yeah, I don't think I want to know," Liz mumbled.

The professor rested his face in his hand, light glinting off his glasses, an orange glow emitted by the tip of his cigarette. "I'd love to dissect you," he told Maka.

Suddenly he pushed himself forward, moving very fast. His open palm told Kagami what he was about to do, but Maka either didn't recognize it or didn't know it. She tried to block his attack. When he came into contact with the scythe, he twisted his hand and shot his wavelength into the pair.

"Impressive," Kagami whistled. "He's got good control."

Maka fell to the ground, stunned.

The Reaper turned. "You say you know what technique Stein is using?"

"Yeah, of course," Kagami replied, grinning slyly. "I'm not an imbecile. Although I do use it slightly differently…"

"Hmm." It was a noise of vague curiosity. Shinigami-sama turned back to the mirror.

"I don't believe it!" Kid said skeptically. "Of course, I know that weapons have physical strength, which is amplified by the meister's to grow more formidable… but he managed to knock down his opponent without a weapon?"

"Yup," Shinigami-sama said in a carefree voice. He began to explain the concept, using a guitar analogy. Kagami tuned out, turning her attention back to the mirror.

Stein pushed his chair away, turning his head bolt again. "Where should I make the first incision?" he said menacingly, miming make a cut with his fingers.

Maka stood frozen, then tore at him, screaming madly. Stein stopped her with a wavelength blast, and she fell, dropping Soul. He caught her by the pigtail and lifted her back up.

**I always knew that was a ridiculous hairstyle.**

_How relative is that, really? _

Stein held Maka, wriggling, and discarded her cloak on the ground, lifting her shirt to reveal her stomach.

"Are you sure this guy isn't a pedo or something?" Kagami asked skeptically.

"No," Shinigami-sama told her lightly, "he's not. He just had a great appreciation for learning the workings of the universe by means of dissection."

The professor pulled a marker from his pocket and began drawing incision lines, murmuring things in her ear as she struggled.

"I'll knock those frikkin' glasses right off your face, bastard! Don't forget I'm here too!"

Black Star came rushing at Stein, who stood calmly unmoving.

"You're not the only one here who can kick ass with your wavelength!" Black Star yelled, leaping. He drove his elbow into Stein's back, forcing him to release Maka. Kagami could actually see the force of his wavelength as he released it.

"Now, that's impressive. The kid's got a huge wavelength," she noted.

"Yes," Shinigami-sama agreed, "it's just what you could expect from Black Star. There's just one problem… Stein has experience on his side."

Kagami watched the mirror carefully. Nothing happened, to her surprise. Black Star took a careful step back, and Stein straightened up, apparently unhurt.

"What'd he do?" she exclaimed.

"Watch. He'll explain."

"I checked your soul's data earlier," Stein said conversationally, turning. "If I know the nature of your wavelength, I can match it. And if the wavelengths are the same, even the strongest attack will be useless."

_That's… amazing._

**Frikkin' terrifying. Teach me! Teach me! **

_We actually should learn. It would be useful. _

"He can do that?" Kid asked.

"Observation, in accordance with a highly adaptable soul – not unlike Kagami's, I must say – those are Stein-kun's greatest strengths," Shinigami-sama told them.

"I'll be on the offensive from here," Stein warned his opponent. Then he raced toward Black Star, moving incredibly fast and grinning madly. Placing his hands on either side of the boy's head, he fired his wavelength. Black Star screamed, shaking.

Kagami stared. "That could kill him," she said quietly.

"It very well might," Kid said, not focusing on who he was talking to.

Stein stopped, his smile purely evil, and Black Star fell to the ground.

Kid stood, unexpectedly. "I can't take this. We're going, too."

"Um. Okay," Liz said uncertainly.

"Wait, Kid," Shinigami-sama said. "This is their 'maintenance', not yours. Besides, you're a Death God, not a Shibusen student."

Kid kept stopped. "Well, in that case, I'll enroll. Please enroll me as a student, Father. Liz, Patty, let's go."

The girls followed him, amid their principal's protests of, "Wait, wait!"

In the hallway, Kid suddenly fell to his knees.

_Now what?_

**Did he forget to make his bathroom symmetrical or something?**

"No!" he wailed. "Impossible! How can this be? I think I forgot to fold the ends of my toilet paper into triangles!"

Kagami stood, dumbfounded.

_… Good guess?_

**Lucky guess. That's just sad.**

Patty began to laugh. "Not again," Liz sighed. "It's only a possibility, right? I mean, you do it every morning! Anyways, you're just way too OCD. If we don't hurry, those kids will die." She walked over to him, crouching down. "Can't you just ignore it?"

"There's no way I can ignore it! There's no way you can be properly rescued by a half-wit Death God who can't even fold the ends of his toilet paper!"

_Incredibly, incredibly sad._

**And it's pissing me off majorly.**

Kid collapsed on the floor. "Those kids will just turn their backs to me!"

"No, they won't," Liz said kindly. "They'll greet you with smiles. Come on, let's do this. We can run back and check really quickly, then we can dash over and save them!"

"I don't wanna," came the reply from the floor.

"What?!" Kagami exploded.

He mumbled something about the toiling paper bringing his world crashing down.

"Just die!"

Kagami and Liz grabbed him and hauled him, kicking and screaming and crying, out the front door.

"Does he always do this?" Kagami asked in exasperation.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Liz replied glumly.

"No! No! I don't wanna go anywhere! Leave me alone!" Kid bawled, pounding the ground with his fists.

"My God, he's so childish and spoiled," Kagami muttered.

Liz nodded wearily in agreement.

With Patty marching ahead, they dragged Kid home to check on the toilet paper.

**Holy Jesus, that was actually kind of long. I was a little confused about what to write for this, so I basically just, I dunno, wrote comments on what was happening to Maka and Black Star and such. Well. Anyways. Um… yes? What can I say. I put off homework for writing. **


	4. Chapter 3

**Wow. Has it been six days already? Okay, so six days isn't a lot, but it might seem like it. It especially will when I stop posting as much. And you never know when I'll get out of it and have blockage of the creativity. I'm really pissy, 'cause I wrote some good stuff, but I have to wait like a million years to post it, otherwise I'll give things away. Grrr. **

**Kid: She doesn't own the anime Soul Eater.**

**Ryuu: Or the manga, for that matter.**

**Kid: WAIT! NO! THAT WAS SEVEN WORDS. I NEED TO MAKE IT EIGHT!!!**

**Ryuu: Kid, we don't have time for that. They want to read.**

**Kid: But the symmetry! They will appreciate it much more if I use eight words. Let's see… what can I say… **

**Ryuu: … *pushes him into closet* Sorry about the technical difficulties. Enjoy the program.**

Kira and Akari stood outside with the Thompson sisters.

"Remind me again what we're waiting for?" Kira asked in distaste.

"We're waiting for Kid. Who is checking to make sure that everything is perfect and symmetrical in his house before he leaves," Liz replied, inspecting her nails.

Finally, Kid walked out the double front doors, grinning ear to ear.

"Everything is perfect. Liz, Patty, Akari, Kira, let's go."

**He talks as if we're his weapons too.**

_What do you expect._

"Kid, don't even bother," Liz said. "We're already three hours late."

"Oh, wonderful," Akari grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Just great."

They headed off towards Shibusen. Kid insisted that they take the longer route just so they could make exactly eight turns: four right and four left.

"He worked this out ahead of time," Liz muttered to Kira.

"Tell me you're kidding me," Kira whispered back.

"At least we're moving."

Soon the spires of the school came into sight. Kira sighed in relief; they were almost there. As they neared the top of the steps, Kid glowed in pleasure.

"Ah, it's wonderful," he said joyfully. "Just what I would expect of Father's school: it's perfectly symmetrical."

Akari frowned. "What's that yelling up ahead?"

They saw a boy with hair the color of a blizzard and eyes similar to Akari's lounging on the ground against one of the columns. "Are you the famous son's group?" he called lazily.

"What's it to ya?" Akari called back.

"Are you going to be our guide?" Kid asked, unfazed.

The boy leered out from under his hair and headband. Akari and Kira recognized him as Soul Eater, one of the kids who was fighting Stein the other day. "You're new, and late, and you want me to show you around? Guess it's nice to have a father who shines like he's surrounded by seven sources of light."

"Oh, God," Kira mumbled, rubbing her temple. She had already picked up on the fact that numbers like seven weren't symmetrical and didn't divide perfectly in half.

"Here we go," Akari rolled her eyes.

Kid narrowed his eyes. "Seven sources of light, you say?"

_That was fairly calm, actually._

**Ha. Just you wait.**

"It's not seven anymore! It's eight, you hear me? Eight!" He stomped up to Soul, frenziedly jabbing her finger into the other boy's face. "Make it eight?"

The white haired boy adopted a confused expression. "Huh?"

Kid started in on a mini-rant about how it's impossible to make seven symmetrical in any way, shape, or form, while eight was symmetrical no matter how you looked at it. Liz stifled a tired giggled loudly when Kid dropped to his knees, groveling.

"Just make it an eight. I beg you," he pleaded.

"Oi, are you all right?" Soul asked, looking somewhere between ticked off and completely lost.

"No, he's a lost case," Liz explained.

There was a yell from somewhere above them. The girls looked up.

Someone was standing on the tip of one of the school's spires. He was yelling something, but they couldn't quite make out what.

"What is that thing?" Kira asked Liz.

Liz tried to listen for a minute. "It's a monkey, I think. Kid, he looks like he's talking to you."

Suddenly, the point broke off the spire, and the 'monkey' fell to earth, screaming.

"Kami, now he's done it," Akari muttered, pressing her hand to her face.

Sure enough, Kid just about had a heart attack.

The other boy who had fought Stein, Black Star, landed on the ground.

"How dare you wreck the symmetry," Kid said, his voice deadly.

"Bring it on!" Black Star chanted, hopping excitedly. "Make sure my techniques are imprinted on your brain."

"You disgust me!" Kid yelled. Then his voice went ominous again. "If you fight with a Shinigami, I can't guarantee the safety of your soul."

"I can vouch for it," Akari said lazily, folding her arms behind her head. "I don't even know if I have a soul anymore."

Kira elbowed her. "Did you have a soul in the first place?"

"Liz, Patty, transform," Kid commanded.

The Demon pistols jumped in front of him, and he snatched them out of the air.

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you get!" Black Star responded. "Come on, Soul."

Soul stood up, grumbling, "You're the one who wanted a fight…" Akari laughed, and walked with Kira over to where he had been sitting, leaning with one elbow lazily on the against. Kira followed suit, back to the wall and arms crossed loosely.

"We won't lose," Soul warned Kid.

"Right!" Black Star agreed noisily. "The birth of the greatest combo!"

**Mmm… somehow they look like a pair of dorks to me. **

_Don't be mean to those lesser than you._

Kid made the first move, swinging around to aim at both opponents at the same time.

Kira heard the blue haired boy swear. "If we can't get close, this'll never end!"

Kid paused for a moment. "Oh, you want a close range fight, then? Fine by me!" He leaped into the air, bringing his leg down on Black Star's head. When the other boy blocked him, he dropped to the ground. Kid stopped Soul's attack from behind, and dug the barrel of his other weapon into Soul's stomach.

"Ooo." Akari pursed her lips. "That's not good."

"Is it necessary?" Kira asked as Soul got blown backwards. "He could've just knocked him away."

Akari shrugged. "It's Kid. A lot of ridiculous things are necessary. Looked like it hurt."

Try as she might, she couldn't help but respect him for the easy, alert way he fought.

As Soul rolled on the ground in pain, Kid stood calmly back up, unruffled.

Kira heard voices around the corner, and turned her head an inch before deciding it was unimportant. She turned back to the fight. Black Star had taking a flying leap, and aimed a kick at Kid, who blocked it and whipped around to fire a shot at Soul.

"Good reaction," Kira laughed.

He continued shooting, causing Soul and Black Star to dance around avoiding his attacks.

_Doesn't it say something about who has the upper hand when someone is able to stand still in one spot and make his opponents run around like maniacs?_

**Wouldn't know. I'm assuming it does, but we never stand still much anyway, huh? **

_Maybe we should try it for once._

**Oh, yeah, and how well do you think that would work?**

Finally Black Star gave up dodging and came to a stop next to his ally, grinning. "Let's do 'that'."

Kid looked lost. "That?"

"Listen and be amazed, see it and tremble!" Black Star proclaimed.

"Don't you mean laugh?" Kid pointed out. Akari snorted, and Kira choked back her own laughter, bending over with a hand covering her mouth. He glanced over at them in mild annoyance.

"We'll show you the power of our friendship!"

"Okay, that just sounds like a corny line from a corny movie," Akari said in disgust. "Hurry up and finish them."

"An infinity of power you'd never expect!" Soul added.

"Oh," Kira moaned, squeezing her eyes shut, "make them stop. Just so _stupid!" _

Soul posed once or twice, then leaped into the air in a spinning ball of blue light. Kid gaped.

"Come, Soul!" Black Star commanded, reaching his hands up.

"Friendship!" Soul yelled as he plummeted toward earth.

"Fusion!" Black Star responded.

There was a slicing noise, and Akari and Kira winced away. When they looked back, Black Star was standing with his hands clapped above him, a dumbstruck expression on his face, and a scythe stuck in his head. Soul clattered to the ground.

After a second, Black Star burst out screaming and spurting blood. Akari almost fell on her ass laughing. Kira joined her when he attempted to press the wound closed. By the time Black Star's head split open again from his futile efforts to lift the scythe, both girls were out of breath and supporting each other, and people were staring. Kid was looking in their direction with a half-straight face, and a girl stepped around the corner wearing a similar expression.

_No doubt she saw two maniacs falling over laughing._

**Not my fault! THOSE TWO ARE SUCH DUMBASSES, AHAHAHAHA! **

_Oh, my God, I have to agree with you! It's almost pathetic! _

**And yet not enough to make me want to help them… oh, my sides hurt…**

Everyone returned their attention to the unlikely pair, who looked to be parting ways.

"It's over for us, isn't it?" Soul said, turning his back.

"What do you mean, Soul?" Black Star asked in astonishment.

"If I stay by your side, I think I'm gonna start to hate you."

**I would, too. **

_Ssh, I want to listen!  
_"Oi, can I shoot?" Kid asked, far removed from the situation.

"I see.. but… even if we're apart, we can still be friends, right?" Black Star asked, glancing away like a shy girl.

"Idiot!" Soul shouted. "Of course we will be!" He started running in the most retarded slow motion fashion that Kira had ever imagined. She choked, doubled over again.

"Soul!"

"Black Star!"

"Soul!"

"Black Staaaar!"

"Soooouuul!"

They met in the middle, slamming into each other in a really awkward guy hug. Now the girls really were on the ground, laughing so hard it hurt.

"Oh, God," Kira cried, "oh, God! I want to stop, but… I just _can't!" _

"It's too much!" Akari gasped, rolling over and clutching her stomach. "Too much!"

The two boys were blown sideways. Akari and Kira sat up, panting and half-crying.

"Ah, I'm sorry," Kid said. "My finger slipped."

This almost started them off again.

The girls calmed when Soul pulled himself back up off the ground, grinning. "Well, it's a fight we accepted. So we finish it."

"Come!" Kid told them. "I'll finish it with the next attack."

**And knowing him…**

_He probably will. _

**My arm **_**still **_**hurts, you know. **

Soul and Black Star charged, moving fairly quickly.

"I'll hit you with my wavelength!" Black Star warned.

He tried to attack, but Kid dodged, ducked under him, and threw him over his shoulder.

**Ooo. Good one.**

_Makes me wonder: what if that was us out there?_

**I bet we'd stand a helluva lot more of a chance than these losers. **

Soul ran in to attack, and was knocked away. Kid crossed his arms, and fired at his opponents. But he looked down to find something wrapped around his leg.

_… maybe we spoke too soon._

**Hey, hey, wait and watch.**

"The kick was a feint!" Black Star told him, and yanked the cord. Kid fell hard onto the ground.

"You're mine now!" Soul growled, and jumped, turning into scythe form midair and aiming to impale the young Shinigami.

Kid managed to dodge it, and pulled his leg free, slamming Black Star's head into Soul's blade in the process.

_Well, he redeemed himself._

**I told you so.**

"I'll show you the power of a Shinigami," Kid glowered. Then he and the sisters called up a Soul Resonance. The dust started to form swirling clouds.

**Uh oh.**

_I don't think this is good._

**Kind of glad it's not us out there now, aren't you?**

_Maybe. Maybe not. We don't know what we would be able to do against him yet. _

**Wait. Did he just… float into the air?**

Kid was hovering in the air. His soul actually became visible. Shadows flickered around, wraith-like. Liz and Patty turned into cannons reaching up his arms, and for some reason, six spines appeared. His soul disappearing, Kid dropped to the ground, murmuring, "Execution mode complete." More shadows flickered, and the air around him seemed to grow dark, as if the light was sucked out of it.

**Thaaaat's bad. That's very, very bad.**

_And yet also very enticing, somehow. I really want to take a shot at him now. _

**You know, you're right. It'd be some excitement, for once. See if we're fast enough to dodge whatever he shoots and still get some attacks in.**

"Oi, doesn't that look dangerous?" Soul asked Black Star, finally catching on.

**No duh.**

_Ssh! Watch!  
_It got darker and darker, and Akari faintly heard Liz counting down. At 'one', Kid brought his arms together and fired. Huge streams of energy hurtled towards Soul and Black Star, and they flew into the air. They wound up in a huge crater, barely conscious.

A girl with long black hair tied up raced out, calling, "Black Star!" anxiously.

"Must be Black Star's weapon," Kira noted.

Suddenly, Kid fell over onto his back, bleeding like a fountain. Akari and Kira stood up, alarmed.

"What the heck could those two have done to him?" Akari asked in astonishment.

Liz and Patty phased back, and crouched over him. The two girls walked out to join them. "He won't get over this one," Liz commented.

"Something wrong?" came a voice from over their shoulder. It was Stein-hakase, rolling toward them on his chair.

"I think he was cut," Liz replied, looking slightly embarrassed.

"What was?" Stein pressed.

Maka came up behind him. "Um, that was… you know Soul's last attack? I think his hair was cut a tiny bit then. Kid realized this after the explosion, said something about the balance was off or the symmetry wasn't right, spat out blood and collapsed."

"That means it's our victory!" Soul said in excitement from behind them.

"Ha! I've finally surpassed God!" Black Star crowed. "I can get a halo now!"

Kira face-palmed. "Only Kid would give up such an easy win this way. Only Kid."

Maka went over to talk to Soul. Liz grabbed one of Kid's arms, looking beseechingly at Kira. "Help me here," she asked.

Kira sighed and helped her haul Kid up. Patty poked at his cheek.

"And who are you?" Stein asked Kira curiously.

Kira turned, bowing. "I'm Kira, Stein-hakase."

Akari raised her hand. "Akari. We're new as well."

"Ah, yes, I think I heard there would be another new student," he pondered. "Would you mind if I took a look at your souls?"

"Hey," Maka muttered hotly, "he never asked me."

Before either girl could say a word, he grinned wildly.

"Oh, this is a very interesting circumstance. Your souls are perfectly in sync, even more so than those of Kid-kun's and the Thompson girls'. And how did this come about?"

"Um," Kira began, "it's kind of complicated…"

Akari rolled her eyes, and joined with her twin.

Stein reached up and cranked the bolt in his head. "This is fantastic. A truly unique condition. How I would love to study you."

Kagami twitched. "Uh, I'd prefer to stay alive, if it's all the same to you."

Shinigami-sama appeared then. "Hi hi!"

"Hello," everyone replied.

"I'm here," he announced, "because it's my son's first day of school." He looked at his son. "Unbelievable, Kid; you're a handful!"

Liz and Patty walked up to him. "Well, then, everybody, I'll be taking my son home for today," he told them. Kagami hovered awkwardly, unsure of what to do. "Kagami-san, why don't you two come along? I'd like to chat with you."

She walked forward in relief, waving over her shoulder to the people she didn't really know.

"Bye," Shinigami called, expanding a large hand and waving goodbye as they turned and walked away.

"See you later!" Black Star called from behind them.

"Shinigami-sama," Kagami asked quietly, "was there something you had to tell me?"

He looked down at her. "Oh, no, no! I just figured, you might be able to help Liz and Patty keep an eye on Kid. He would listen to you, in your other state, would he not?"

She stared at him blankly. "Um. I suppose."

"Great!" he said happily. "Then you can stay with them, and keep him from going insane when he wakes up."

"… I'm not sure that's going to work," she told him hesitantly.

"Oh." He paused for a moment. "Well, you could disguise yourself as the Goddess of Symmetry and tell him that he is the only one who sees himself as asymmetrical…"

Kagami twitched. "I don't know if I'm willing to do that…"

"Ah, well. See you tomorrow, children!" He stopped moving, bouncing a goodbye. The four of them kept walking towards the house.

**Holy snap. Super long update. Yay? I think…**

**Kid: *bangs on closet door* Let me out! I thought of an eight word statement! **

**Ryuu: A little late, don't you think?**

**Kid: No, it's not! Everything must wait for symmetry! **

**Ryuu: Um. You do know that if they're reading this, they've finished the update?**

**Kid: WHAT! How dare they disrespect my aesthetics that way! They're insulting the very workings of the universe! **

**Ryuu: … *dashes into closet and slaps tape over his mouth* Yes, you're awesome. *remembers to tie his hands together* But that doesn't mean you can bother the nice people who read and review my stories. **

**Okay guys, there's the latest! And WHOA. That's a double story update. New feat, ha! R&R while you wait, please? :D **


	5. Teaser!

**Hey guys! **

**I just had to post this teaser. I couldn't be so cruel to you anymore, though it's bad enough that I haven't posted in forever. **

**This isn't any part of the actual story (um, yet; this *full* chapter will show up eventually), so there are no names, no anything. But I was rereading it, and decided I just had to share some of it with everyone. I can't take keeping it to myself. **

**Enjoy!**

She lay still for a moment.

'So, what is that smell?'

She inhaled, letting the musky scent flow around and through her. She felt a pulse emanating throughout her, aching waves.

_**'**_I think…'

She edged nearer to him, breathing in. The smell grew stronger, as she had suspected. It washed over her, and she sighed, feeling strangely bittersweet.

_'_It's the smell of his skin.'

Her embarrassment dissipated as the scent overwhelmed her, sinking into her brain and forming inviting clouds. She fell back onto those clouds, floating somewhere between sense and addiction, in the white space blooming in her mind. She moved closer to him, careful to avoid waking him. Then she lay still, breathing slowly in and out, letting the toxic sweetness fog her mind until she barely registered what she saw. She never felt his hand shift gently to her arm, never noticed how much it hurt every time she took a breath, never realized when her soul started to attune to the one so near her.

She didn't know how long she laid there, breathing and wavelength in sync with his, hand just brushing against the milky ivory skin of his collarbone. Her eyes were out of focus, and all she saw was white. She drifted in that color, on clouds that trembled with the wavelength of their souls. Didn't move, but stayed half curled in a ball, as close to him as she dared be with her mind in such a state.

'Actually… pretty… dang… close… I'm… sure… it… wouldn't… be… the… case… was… I… sane…'

She was dragged up to the surface of full consciousness – though not sanity, she noticed – when he started to shift around. Then she sensed he was awake, and looked up.

He blinked his eyes open, unfazed. They still had a far-off, sleepy quality to them, but there was no hint of lingering irritation. He just looked at her. She stared back, her shame swirling away to be locked in a far part of her mind. And they lay there, looking at each other, not saying a word.

She sighed, and closed her eyes, nestling back into the pillow. Craning her neck up to look at him when he was so impossibly close was uncomfortable; she was just as happy simply being where she was. She breathed in again, deeply, and edged surreptitiously closer, trying to drown herself in his smell. Her head slipped slowly forward, forehead coming to a rest on his collarbones.

Eventually, the pools of light grew in the room, slinking under the curtains and sliding across the floor and walls. She found a streak of sunlight falling across her face, right over her eyes, and she shifted as quietly as possible onto her other side, her back now facing him. When she realized the smell was no longer as strong, she almost cried out in despair; it was like oxygen to her right now. She hunched her shoulders in misery, and her back touched against the smooth, warm skin behind her.

A finger trailed down her arm from her shoulder, a hand rested gently on the side of her waist, then threaded down across it. With an easy movement – she wasn't sure who had made it – she was pressed against him.

"You're warm," he murmured tiredly.

"You smell good," she responded.

He laughed, and she felt the laugh pulse through her body. His hand, for once stripped of the ring he always wore, traced circles on the left side of her stomach where her shirt had folded up an inch. His chin rested on her head, his throat curved against the back of it, and she felt his chest pressing against her shoulder blades.

**Good, un? :D Didja guess who the people are? Review or PM with your guesses. I can't WAIT to publish the whole thing; this is my favorite of what I've written so far. **

**And I'm sad, 'cuz the anime ended… depressment… ;_; Oh, well.**

**I'll be trying to do this for my other story as well. **


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